The present disclosure relates, in general, to platforms and die casting machines and, more particularly, platforms mountable in die casting machines.
Die casting is a common manufacturing process in which molten metal is injected at a high pressure into a metal mold. The die casting machine includes a die assembly formed of one die mounted on a stationary or fixed platen in the machine frame and second die mounted on a movable platform which slides along tie rods in the top and bottom part of the machine frame.
Typically, after the dies have been opened and the formed metal part removed, the dies are sprayed to lubricate and clean the dies for a subsequent casting operation. The spraying operation introduces fluid or oils in between the open dies and platens, which falls to a pit in the bottom portion of the machine frame. Metal flash from a die casting operation also falls into the pit.
Frequently one or more operators enter the die casting machine when the dies are in the open position for maintenance, die cleaning, spraying, etc. One or more platforms have been mounted in the lower portion of the machine frame below the movable dies. An example of a prior art platform is shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C. A support plate is mounted on a scissors linkage to be elevatable to a selected height to accommodate different height workers. Typically, two such plates are mounted in a spaced apart manner across the lateral width of the die casting machine, generally over covers mounted on the die casting machine linear guides. One manually inserted bridge element spans the space between the two plates as shown in FIG. 1B. Due to the need for worker's safety, the bridge element is necessarily made of a strong metal construction and typically weighs about 30 pounds. In this manner, the bridge element and the two elevatable plates form an elongated platform across the width of the die casting machine to support a worker during machine maintenance.
However, such platforms have inherent safety hazards, in addition to the need for the worker to carry a 30-pound bridge element and attach it to spaced elements to the pair of elevatable trays.
The aforementioned fluid overspray, oil, grease and metal flash accumulates in the bottom portion or pit of the die casting machine and can accumulate on top of the linear guides covers and the platform plates. These accumulated fluids and metal flash pose a safety hazard to workers entering the die casting machine.
Further, there is a large lateral gap and a height differential between the operator platforms on opposite sides of the die casting machine and the elevated position of the plates and bridge elements inside of the die casting machine. This gap, which may exceed 13 inches in length in addition to a 13-16 inch drop in height elevation from the nearby operator's platform, also poses a significant hazard to machine workers.
While addressing the safety hazards posed by prior art platforms mounted inside of die casting machines, the large size of the machine, in particular the movable die platen, needs to be taken into account since any platform mountable within the die casting machine must be stored below the bottom edge of the movable platen to provide platen clearance during die casting operations.